Diego Fazi

Postdoctoral Appointee

Diego Fazi comes from a theoretical physics background, and he performed research in gravitational-wave astronomy within the LIGO project from 2005 to 2012. In October 2012, Diego joined Chemical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory as a postdoctoral appointee in the Solar Conversion group led by David Tiede, where he pursues his passion for solar energy and artificial photosynthesis.

Diego’s research involves applying computational methods used in gravitational-wave data analysis to the field of solar fuel catalysts characterization. In particular he uses Markov-Chain Monte Carlo techniques coupled with pair distribution function analysis to compare experimental high-energy X-ray scattering data with theoretical models of water-splitting solar photocatalysts, with the goal of characterizing the molecular structure of the catalysts and improving the efficiency of hydrogen production from artificial photosynthesis.

Education

Ph.D., Physics, University of Bologna (Italy)Thesis subject: Gravitational wave data analysis and general relativityDissertation: “Development of a physical-template search for gravitational waves from spinning compact-object binaries with LIGO”